[TN-Bird] Inca Dove / Ensley Bottoms

May 21, 2005
Ensley Bottoms
Shelby Co. TN
 
Over the past few years, I've told everyone that the most likely place to  
find an Inca Dove in TN would be President's Island in southwest Memphis. Well, 
 
I missed it by 1 mile. At a little before 10 this morning an Inca Dove flew 
into  my field of view while I was scanning the trees from the levee west of 
the waste  water treatment plant. This is an area known to most TN birders  for 
breeding Painted Buntings.
 
The flashing red in the wings filled my glasses as I swung on the bird to  
keep up. It went behind some vines and the next time I got on the bird it was  
flying directly away. I noted extensive white on the outside of the tail, more  
than is seen on Common Ground-Dove. I could not get a fix on the tail length 
but  noted the longer wings and slightly different cadence to their beat. The 
bird  disappeared toward McKellar Lake. I was fairly confident the bird was an 
Inca  but needed a better look. I searched the area for 45 minutes returning 
twice to  the parking area used by the Corp of Engineers' dredge boat crew, on 
the second  time the bird flushed and flew back south into a tree line but 
did not stop. On  this occasion the long tail was quite evident.
 
On the first sighting the bird was flying at eye level over open ground and  
I was up on the levee; when the bird got to the tree line it went through the  
trees rather than going over them. This suggests to me that the bird knows 
the  area.
 
I searched this morning for over an hour without another sighting and  again 
this afternoon for another hour or so but again nada.
 
This a species I've expected for some time in TN, I've seen 2 birds just  
south of Memphis in Tunica Co. MS and they nested about 100 miles south of here 
 
a few years back. One bird showed up in KY a couple of years back just across  
the TN line. Amazingly, I heard one calling at the pits one gray afternoon 
but  could not get to the area the calls were coming from, so it went  
unconfirmed.
 
Hopefully this bird can be relocated and is the first of many more to come,  
as the species is expanding its range to the east with breeders already in  
western AR. I believe there was a recent sighting near Jonesboro in northeast 
AR 
 just 50 miles from Memphis.
 
 
Good  Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett,  TN


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